For More Information Contact the Public
Information Office:
Richard Vespucci
Jon Zlock
609-292-1126

The Department of Education announced today that decisions in 18 of
the 22 Abbott budget appeals have been posted publicly online. The rulings
come after Commissioner of Education William L. Librera considered the
recommendations of the Office of Administrative Law (OAL).

Assistant Commissioner of Education Gordon MacInnes, who heads the DOEs
Division of Abbott Implementation, said the DOE remains committed to
funding programs that work within the Abbott school districts.

"We are committed to improving student achievement in our Abbott
schools," MacInnes said. "If budget spending is linked directly
to student achievement, we favor it wholeheartedly. We remain dedicated
to working continuously with our Abbott districts in order to provide
the best possible education for our children."

In his decisions, the Commissioner had to weigh the results of 18 separate
hearings in which OAL recommended that an estimated $80 million be added
to the districts budgets for the current school year. The dispute
between parties over approximately $80 million is less than 2 percent
of $5 billion, the overall amount of Abbott money budgeted.

The effect of the Commissioners review of all the evidence under
the appropriate standards was to substantially reduce the approximate
$80 million in supplemental aid, which was collectively recommended by
the OAL judges. More information on exact figures will be available once
DOE personnel have a chance to review the findings of the Commissioner.

"No one should draw profound conclusions from this process," MacInnes
said. "This is the beginning of the efforts the DOE have launched
to ensure children in the Abbott districts are learning and achieving.
We are focused on defining what is effective and what is efficient."

"At its most basic definition, effective means that students are
literate by the third grade and master the states tough Core Curriculum
Content Standards at every grade," MacInnes said. "Efficient
means that effective work takes place without waste or duplication and
instructional programs are fully integrated between state, local and
federal funding sources."

The Supreme Court definition of a maintenance budget, as defined in
its July 23 order, is as follows: "A maintenance budget shall mean
a district will be funded at a level such that the district can implement
current approved programs, services, and positions and therefore includes
documented increases in non-discretionary expenditures."

Based on direction from the state Supreme Court, the DOE worked quickly
within an accelerated 30-day timeframe to decide all Abbott budget appeals.
Districts could then appeal to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL).
The Commissioner had 25 days after receiving the OAL recommendations
to issue final rulings on the Abbott budgets.

The Commissioners decisions can be appealed to the Superior Court
Appellate Division within five (5) days of their release.

The remaining four decisions are due by Oct. 28, based on extensions
granted to the Office of Administrative Law. The districts addressed
in those decisions will be East Orange, Newark, Paterson and Pemberton.

Many of the Office of Administrative Law decisions appear to be based
on the belief that the Department of Education had the burden of proof
to determine what should be included and what should be taken out of
the Abbott budgets.

However, in its July 23 order, the Supreme Court said the DOE has the
burden of offering evidence to establish what was in effective and inefficient,
but the ultimate burden of proof remains the with the districts to establish
their entitlement to funding.

For more information, please contact the Department of Education Public
Information Office at (609) 292-1126